Quemoy & Matsu.

This is coolbert:

"A-bombs can be used...as you would use a bullet"

From Reuters, the headline for today:

"WRAPUP 9-China, U.S. feud over Taiwan arms sales"

"* Beijing suspends Sino-U.S. military exchanges."

The continual adversarial relationship between Communist China and the U.S. again encounters the "festering sore" of Taiwan. American military equipment manufacturers selling the latest and most -up-to-date gear to the Taiwanese. To the extreme displeasure of the communist government in Beijing.

Taiwan, the stronghold of those Chinese anti-communists that fled the Chinese mainland in 1949, over sixty years ago now, still a major sticking point between the Chinese and the U.S.

China, seeking dominion over Taiwan and the obliteration of the traditional anti-communist Chinese movement [Koumintang KMT], angry at the U.S.

Anger, hardly without precedent.

From over fifty years ago now, we have the Taiwan Strait Crisis One and Two.

The little, itty-bitty islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Mere specks of land. Mostly forgotten now, but at one time, A POINT OF CONTENTION THAT NEARLY LEAD ON TWO OCCASIONS TO A WORLD WAR AND THE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!

" . . . in 1949, with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) . . . abandoning the Chinese mainland and establishing a refuge on the island of Taiwan (also known as Formosa). This became, along with the islands of Matsu and Quemoy, the sole territory under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China."

Quemoy and Matsu, again, two little itty-bitty islands ONLY EIGHT MILES OFF THE COAST OF MAINLAND CHINA, WITHIN ARTILLERY RANGE OF COMMUNIST FORCES, OCCUPIED BY THE KMT AND REPUBLIC OF CHINA MILITARY UNITS!

The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (1954-1955).

The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958).

[Quemoy and Matsu are only eight miles from mainland China. The Taiwan Strait is about 100 miles across, a formidable obstacle to an amphibious assault in a way Quemoy and Matsu were not!]

Taiwan, Quemoy and Matsu, NOT originally seen as being vital to American interests, becoming vital to U.S. national interests, so much so that war with China was contemplated during both of the Taiwan Strait Crisis [I & II]!

"On 05 January 1950 President Harry Truman announced that 'the United States will not involve in the dispute of Taiwan Strait', which meant America would not intervene if the Chinese communists were to attack Taiwan."

Recall that the under the pronouncement of Dean Acheson prior to the outbreak of the Korean War, Taiwan, Quemoy and Matsu were not included as being WITHIN the American sphere of interest.

In case of war with China over Quemoy and Matsu, the Eisenhower administration had made the decision in advance that nuclear weapons would be used, the deliberations had already been held and the authorization been made? It seems to be so!

And you have to ask yourself if the defense of Quemoy and Matsu would have been worth the use of atomic weapons? Surely the consequences would have been extremely severe!

The Taiwan Strait Crisis One and Two did not result in a war between China and the U.S. However, the continuing tensions, the prolonged and intense artillery bombardment of these two islands, was A MAJOR NEWS ITEM IN THE U.S. FOR SOME TIME. I can very well recall that the daily tally of artillery rounds hitting Quemoy and Matsu was always included in the evening news.

An artillery bombardment, more or less regular, that continued FOR A PERIOD OF OVER TWENTY YEARS!!

"Afterwards, both sides continued to bombard each other with shells containing propaganda leaflets on alternate days of the week. This strange informal arrangement continued until the normalization of ties between the US and PRC in 1979."

Quemoy and Matsu! Going to war with China over these itty-bitty disputed islands would have been worth it? Much less using atomic bombs? I think NOT!

coolbert.